Innovation Programs

Inspiring Innovation

From the beginning, VMware has been on a mission to disrupt IT with our virtualization technology. We started with the premise that impossible is possible, but only with our talented people. We believe our people are responsible for our success, so we continue to fuel their curiosity and provide the platform to implement their ideas through a diverse set of innovative programs.

BORATHON

Getting Back to Our Creative Roots

Innovation is at the heart of VMware, and programs like Borathon give us an opportunity to build from our creative roots and work collaboratively on Flings, features, proof-of-concepts, hacks, or new workflows. Moreover, Borathon gives us an opportunity to engage as a community to work together to foster creativity and to build enthusiasm for our products.

Curious about the name? Our engineers wanted this event to reflect a bit of our history. So instead of simply calling this event a hackathon, they named it after their last code repository island name: Bora Bora. Thus, the name Borathon was born.

FLINGS

A Fling is a short-term project intended for interaction and exploration by other VMware employees and customers. Usually smaller utilities that perform a specific, useful function, Flings might not become part of a future VMware product offering or be fully supported, but many VMware customers find them incredibly useful. Based on customer feedback, the Fling author updates the Fling with new features or bug fixes. Some Flings are updated a few times a year, while others may be retired when their functionality is integrated into one of our products.

Top 3 Flings

vSphere HTML5 Web Client

ESXi Embedded Host Client

Horizon Toolbox 2

R&D INNOVATION OFFSITE (RADIO)

RADIO is VMware’s unique, internal, three-day technical conference that brings together more than 1,400 of our worldwide engineers. We share innovative ideas, learn about technical strategies and projects happening across VMware research and development and allow our developers to network and have fun with their peers.

The heart and soul of RADIO is the Research Program, where proposals are reviewed and selected to become research talks and poster sessions. This event has been VMware’s biggest innovation catalyzer for the past 13 years. Engineers walk away with new ideas, different perspectives and new contacts, which help them solve some of our thorniest challenges.

VMware Technologists Join Forces for Annual R&D Innovation Offsite

Over the course of three days, VMware engineers pitch their innovative ideas and learn from their peers about the technical efforts happening across research and development. They also engage in two-way dialogue, forming new relationships.

"The ideas coming out of RADIO reflect the broad range of technology passions that exist within our engineering community, and these innovative ideas help VMware solve some of our customers’ toughest challenges. Many of the RADIO ideas take flight after the conference. Some merge into our product portfolios, some are showcased at other VMware internal conferences and some are shared with customers and partners at VMworld.”

- Ray O’Farrell, VMware's EVP & Chief Technology Officer

TECHTALKS

Since 2004, we host weekly technical talks delivered by and for VMware’s internal R&D community. It’s one way we stay connected to the great innovation work that happens globally and across all the business units. Whether it be a new idea, product demo, or sharing an epiphany (or failure), TechTalks is our platform to geek out and collect diverse mindshare.

We invite technical gurus, like Stanford CS Professor John Ousterhout, to share their wisdom and stories with our community.

XLABS

Fostering Creativity and Entrepreneurship

xLabs is a place where creativity meets execution. Our mission is to fast-track great ideas to successful outcomes. We believe great ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time, so xLabs offers VMware employees both with and without technical backgrounds a platform to bring their ideas to life. We invest and nurture great ideas, helping our innovators execute with the focus and agility of a startup.

This program is uniquely designed to support inspired, curious, and collaborative innovators, who love to tackle new challenges that will help shape VMware’s future.